Chopin published much of his music simultaneously in Germany, France, and England. While this certainly earned the composer triple exposure and likely a good sum of revenue, the discrepancies between these three (or more) editions can be quite the conundrum. Ever the romantic, Chopin lived in a constant state of inspiration and improvisation, and was certainly prone to editing and revising his own music even after sending final drafts to his publishers. Especially considering that all published editions of his work during his lifetime were in fact proofed and approved by the composer himself, this is a popular source of anxiety amongst pianists and scholars.

How is one to know what the composer truly meant and wanted when we are presented with autographs and first drafts bearing the composer’s approval that differ in content? Details such as phrase markings, dynamics, fingerings, even the notes themselves are often subject to suspicion. The several editions of the time had different ways of dealing with this problem; the Germans of course believed that their version was infallible, the French called Chopin their own, having spent most of his adult life based in Paris, and the English publisher (a German who largely copied the French editions) annoyed Chopin by insisting on adding flowery titles to his pieces. Nearly 200 years later, the state of affairs in regards to Chopin editions has turned over a new leaf.

Today, several scholarly editions exist that attempt to organize the vast array of sources and compile the information in one presentable volume, notably the Paderewski and Polish National editions which contain lengthy and scholarly explanations and discussions regarding choices and sources. Even so, it is ultimately up to the taste of an editor as to which version of which piece suits them most at the given time, and perhaps Chopin himself faced the same dilemma, resulting in the variations we have today.

Funny enough, I just posted very similar message in another thread in audition room. Since I did it at 11:46AM, and you at 11:47AM, it proves I did not see yours, first

Best, M

Whenever I have questions about a certain Chopin piece and which edition I should refer to, I ask Jeffrey Kallberg. He's helped a couple times and really I think he is the foremost expert on Chopin. And he's a nice man!

Also, in case you'd like to compare the first editions from the English, French, and German publishers you can do it here:

http://www.cfeo.org.uk/dyn/index.html

A major part of the problem was Chopin himself. Unlike Liszt who went over his publisher's proofs with a fine tooth comb, Chopin was very lax in that regard. Plus there are his unpublished changes noted in his performances, as well as his pencil markings in his students' scores--i.e., Klindworth, Mikuli, etc.--that raise more questions than answers. Were they corrections of printing errors or impromptu revisions? Who knows?

Whenever I have questions about a certain Chopin piece and which edition I should refer to, I ask Jeffrey Kallberg. He's helped a couple times and really I think he is the foremost expert on Chopin. And he's a nice man!

Really? That's good to know! Did you just email him or something?

Yes! I needed to know what is involved in authenticating an old music manuscript and thought who better to ask than he, since he had just been called upon to authenticate a recently discovered Beethoven manuscript. He was very kind and encouraging (regarding my little project) and told me what I needed to know. After that, he helped me in deciding which Chopin editions to purchase or at least follow when playing certain pieces. Also, I can't remember exactly, but I had more and more questions for him (about Chopin) and he answered every one. I bought one of his books too.

Anyway, the reason I bought all those books is that I want to write one myself - something a little different from any other Chopin book out there. I have no idea how to go about getting guidance on it, though. The musicology prof at my school is most certainly not on my team (and wasn't even when I was one of his favorite students). It's sad, because he's got an amazing mind and I would have loved to work with him (he's a pianist and loves Chopin too), but he seems to be one of those people who doesn't like talking shop and doesn't enjoy developing research students. He sees it as boring work and would rather just go home and watch football or something.

I have read up some on authentication, and they have some very interesting and dependable computer analysis methods out of Stanford University that I'm very interested in studying (and I even have some ideas for development). But Stanford is waaaaay out of my league.

Anyway, the reason I bought all those books is that I want to write one myself - something a little different from any other Chopin book out there. I have no idea how to go about getting guidance on it, though.

I'm fine on ideas. I just would like some guidance from a true Chopin scholar. (No offense.)